According to the "2013-2017 Analysis Report on the Development Prospects and Investment Strategy Planning of China's Intelligent Building Industry", the market for China's intelligent building industry has been growing at an annual rate of over 20% since breaking through 20 billion yuan for the first time in 2005. In 2012, the market size reached 86.1 billion yuan. From a data perspective, the development speed of intelligent buildings in China has been very fast in recent years, which also shows that intelligent buildings are a major trend in the future development of architecture.

Since it is a building, a large number of communication cables will definitely be used. As the comprehensive cabling system of the nervous system in intelligent buildings, it is a key part and infrastructure of intelligent buildings, and it has a very close relationship with the planning, design, construction, installation, and maintenance of building engineering. It is like an information highway inside a building, where people can communicate and interact conveniently, quickly, and effectively. It can be said that the comprehensive cabling system connects the communication, computers, and various facilities and equipment inside the intelligent building to form a complete supporting whole, in order to meet the requirements of high intelligence.

But at this point, we have to consider one issue: fire prevention. Because once a fire breaks out inside a building, the heat and toxic gases released by these cables will become a significant safety hazard. Looking back at several large-scale fire accidents that have occurred in China in recent years, many of them were caused by the victims being unable to escape. The burning of cables emitted toxic acidic gases, coupled with the large amount of heat and smoke released by the combustion, causing the victims to have difficulty breathing and leading to tragedies. Therefore, when selecting cables for comprehensive cabling systems, in addition to considering performance, fire prevention and environmental protection are also particularly important reference factors.

The "Code for Design of Integrated Cabling Engineering GB50311-2007" issued by China in 2007 introduced the level of cable fire prevention and environmental protection for the first time. This standard recommends that domestic users choose different levels of fire prevention or environmental protection cables according to different occasions.

The current communication cable sheath materials in the domestic market are mainly divided into three types:

Integrated cabling is one of the key components of information network systems. In order to ensure the high-speed and stable operation of information network systems, it is particularly important to choose high-quality and high-performance cables.

The selection of cables should be comprehensively considered based on system requirements, technical performance, investment estimates, and other factors. However, in the wiring system, the category of cables to be used and the structure of the wiring (unshielded cables, shielded cables, optical cables, or a combination of several) should be determined first. Cables typically use insulated wires with one or more layers of plastic sheath. And cables usually consist of 2 to 3600 pairs of wires. Large logarithmic cables are commonly used in backbone cabling systems and are suitable for use in voice and low-speed data transmission. The maximum length of these cables in trunk and horizontal (hub to desktop) cabling systems is detailed in the latest GB50311-2007. It should be noted that these maximum length limits apply to all media. They did not consider the impact of performance differences caused by differences in cable types and protocol types used in the network. In fact, the maximum cable length will depend on the system's application, network type, and cable quality.

Method for selecting cables for comprehensive cabling system

1. Ordinary (PVC) type;

2. Low smoke halogen-free type (LSZH/LSOH);

3. Fire resistant type. The selection of fire prevention or environmental protection levels for comprehensive cabling cables should be considered comprehensively based on the actual situation on site:

Elevated floor or suspended ceiling

If PVC trunking/pipes are installed in the elevated floor or ceiling of a building and an air conditioning and ventilation system is installed, flame-retardant grade (CMP or OFNP) cables should be used in the elevated floor or ceiling; If metal cable trays/pipes or fire-resistant PVC cable trays/pipes are used in the elevated floors or ceilings of buildings, cables with arbitrary fire ratings (CM//CMR/CMP or OFN/OFNR/OFNP) can be used. For buildings with environmental protection requirements such as densely populated areas (airports, subways, stations, hospitals, exhibition centers, etc.), it is advisable to use cables that meet the LSZH rating when designing comprehensive cabling projects. At the same time, fire-resistant metal cable trays/pipes or flame-retardant PVC cable trays/pipes should be used.

Vertical shaft

If PVC trunking (conduit) is used in the vertical shaft of a building, cables or optical cables of vertical grade (CMR or OFNR) or higher should be used in the vertical shaft; If there are metal cable trays/pipes (or flame-retardant PVC cable trays/pipes) in the vertical shaft, cables of any fire rating (CM/CMR/CMP or OFN/OFNR/OFNP) can be used in the vertical shaft.

Based on the above analysis, in addition to considering factors such as the technical performance indicators and wiring methods of cables during design, construction and installation personnel must also ensure that construction is organized according to design requirements and specifications. Acceptance personnel must also strictly follow the specifications and design for testing and acceptance, in order to ensure high-quality and high-performance operation of the information network. Without a comprehensive cabling system in smart buildings, various facilities and equipment cannot operate normally due to the lack of information transmission media, and intelligence is also difficult to achieve. The selection of system cables has also become an important factor that cannot be ignored. Here, we also remind everyone that when choosing cables for comprehensive cabling systems, in addition to considering performance, fire prevention and environmental protection should also be taken into account to improve the safety index inside the building.